10/10/2000

Blueprint for the future
Economic pressures and the adoption of new technologies have helped South Plains farmers boost yields, but rising fuel costs will make growers more judicious in the future, a Texas Tech economics professor said Monday during the ''Celebrating the Stewards of the Land'' conference.
Kary Mathis said farmers will be careful in deciding next year which acres they'll irrigate and what crops they'll plant. He made his remarks at Lubbock's Second Baptist Church, which, along with the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is sponsoring the conference.

Water, fuel costs worry as yields go up
Economic pressures and the adoption of new technologies have helped South Plains farmers boost yields, but rising fuel costs will make growers more judicious in the future, a Texas Tech economics professor said Monday during the ``Celebrating the Stewards of the Land'' conference.

Ag conference: Genesis holds key to averting disaster
Mankind needs to return to Eden and rediscover the garden model of creation described in Genesis 3 if global ecological disaster is to be averted, an Abilene theology professor said Sunday night.
Rob Sellers, an associate professor of theology and missions at Hardin-Simmons University Logsdon School of Theology, spoke to about 75 people at the ''Celebrating the Stewards of the Land'' conference, which began Sunday and continues today.

Texas shell shocked after Dallas debacle
AUSTIN (AP) Texas coach Mack Brown blames himself for one of the most embarrassing defeats in Longhorns history.
His job now is to rebuild his team emotionally and physically after Saturday's 63-14 loss to rival Oklahoma in Dallas.

Continental making move for US Airways
HOUSTON (AP) - Continental Airlines is making a play for the Washington, D.C., assets of US Airways, saying the rival airline's plans to sell them to cable executive Robert Johnson to satisfy regulatory concerns over its proposed acquisition by UAL Corp. is anticompetitive.

Tire CEO says company won't admit to defects
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The chief executive of Bridgestone/ Firestone Inc. told attorneys during an eight-hour deposition on Monday that the company recalled 6.5 million tires in August for safety purposes and that the decision did not mean the company was admitting to any product defect.

Report on SUVs draws criticism
DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. criticized an analysis by The Washington Post published Monday that found the Ford Explorer has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport utility vehicles even when fitted with Goodyear tires.

McCann Should Resign
WHILE RESEARCH IS being conducted to determine whether it is legal for convicted felon Jimmy McCann to sit on the Buffalo Springs Lake board of directors, it occurs to us that it is a question that should not have to be raised.
Mr. McCann, who pleaded guilty last week to felony theft by a public servant, should do the honorable thing and resign on his own from the Lubbock County Water Control District No. 1 board.

Player's Car Stolen
COTTON KINGS HOPEFUL Craig Hayden didn't get much of a welcome to Lubbock, a city he said he had heard "good things'' about.
Mr. Hayden drove all the way from Saskatchewan, Canada, to try out for Lubbock's hockey team. But shortly after his arrival, his car was stolen from a hotel parking lot. Most of his clothes, all of his shoes, a television, VCR and his golf clubs were in the stolen car's hatch. Police recovered the vehicle, but when the car was returned to the hockey player it had been stripped. Even the windshield wipers had been removed.

Ms. Goodacre's Honor
SCULPTOR GLENNA GOODACRE is one of the most talented people to come from Lubbock. Her extraordinary work has brought her well-deserved national fame. The popular new Sacajawea dollar and the Vietnam Women's Memorial are but two of her excellent creations.

Be Sure To Register
ONE VOTE MAKES a difference, which is why we encourage those qualified to cast a ballot in the Nov. 7 general election to register by the deadline -- tomorrow, Oct. 10.
If one senator had changed his vote on annexation in 1845, Texas wouldn't have joined the Union. If just one more person had cast a ballot in the 1994 Democratic Primary for Llano County judge, the election wouldn't have been decided by the luck of the draw after the candidates tied with 929 votes each. And J.E. "Buster" Brown avoided a runoff in the Republican Primary for Attorney General in 1990 by just 691 votes -- a margin of one-tenth of a vote per precinct.

Energas Rate Increase
WHAT WERE ENERGAS officials thinking when they asked the Texas Railroad Commission to grant a temporary $3 million rate increase two months before commissioners are scheduled to decide whether a rate hike is appropriate?
Some area city officials, including Lubbock Mayor Windy Sitton, said the request is unethical and perhaps illegal.

Moses Chooses Dallas
PUNDITS SAY MIKE MOSES has been chosen to lead the Dallas public schools out of the wilderness of internal strife, mismanagement and academic failures. They are wrong.

Video games the chief focus of History Channel special
NEW YORK -- Remember all of those quarters you spent playing Pong? The eyestrain induced by hours of Super Mario? Well, you weren't wasting your time.
You were part of history. At least that's the theory presented on "Video Games: Behind the Fun" on "Modern Marvels" (9 p.m., HIST, TV-G). This informative and occasionally stimulating film argues that gaming has been one of the driving forces behind ever more powerful and user-friendly computers. According to Video Game Historian (now that's a new academic discipline!) Keith Feinstein, "If it weren't for video games, you wouldn't have the computer or Internet revolution that you have today. If it weren't for video games humanizing computers, you wouldn't see them in everyone's home."

'Gideon's Crossing' too noble
NEW YORK -- As if to prove that good intentions can go haywire, the noble medical series, ''Gideon's Crossing'' (9 p.m., KAMC, TV-14, L) just may emerge as the most overwrought and ponderous drama of the young season. Never known for his lighter side, the impressive actor Andre Braugher (''Homicide'') plays an unorthodox doctor, Ben Gideon, who not only operates on the cutting edge of medical technology, but involves himself in the personal lives of his patients while agonizing at great length about the moral, ethical and social implications of his actions.

Tune in tonight
A genetic mutant bicycle messenger seeks her destiny in a grim 21st century future on the repeat two-hour pilot of "Dark Angel" (7 p.m., KJTV, TV-14, L, V) from producer James Cameron. Ten million dollars and not one smile. May be preempted by Major League Baseball.

Frenship defense getting stronger
For the first three games of the 2000 season, the Frenship defense would've been very willing to stay in the background as a high-flying Tiger offense posted astronomical numbers.
Problem was, Frenship opponents were hanging up huge offensive statistics as well, bringing the Tiger defense and some of its glaring problems onto center stage.

Raise For State Workers
Re: "State employee flight costs Texas millions," (A-J, 9-25). The loss of state employees does cost Texas taxpayers millions of dollars. The state trains them, pays tuition fees, gives them work experience and then they go to private sector, all at the expense of taxpayers.

Number For Boom Boxes?
Re: "Vehicle Boom Boxes," (A-J, 9-18). The letter writer has the right idea about vehicle boom boxes. There is a car that passes my house frequently and the walls of my house vibrate from the noise.

Flag Is Our Heritage
I was reading about the Kansas boy who was suspended for three days for drawing a picture of a Confederate flag (A-J, 10-3). The school said it violated a racial harassment and intimidation policy that the school had adopted.

Texans for Texas
Fresh, clean, pure, soft, drinking water. Please consider pumping water from the lakes in East Texas (Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn) by two large pipelines and five surge lakes (three are now dry) to West and North Texas. The future of Texas is the mechanical recharging of the three aquifers, the Edwards, the Transpecos, and the Ogallala.

Trash Left After Practice
I walk in the evenings around Smith Elementary School and it is a pleasure to see the young people participating in sports. I hope their parents and coaches are teaching them good sportsmanship, but they are missing an opportunity to teach and be an example of good citizenship.

Lost Animal Found
Recently, a stray dog found its way to my home. That's nothing new. I called animal services, posted it to the Internet and contacted The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's lost and found classified section, none of which charge a fee for these listings.

105 Reasons To Beware
Recently, while attending a brief Pray Lubbock meeting in the downtown business area, we returned to the parking lot to find our car had been towed. The car was parked in a lot with an alleyway dividing the lot next to the building we were in and a lot adjacent to an empty building. The vacant business had a tow sign displayed on its side of the alleyway at the lot entrance.

Gospel Music Awesome
Thanks to The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal for sponsoring the gospel music at the South Plains Fair this year. It was awesome.

A Divided House Falls
President Truman dismantled and unarmed us in the face of (one of) the most brutal Antichrist persons of all rulers. (Joe Stalin)
That was revolting. It was as if he was saying to Congress with their blessing, bless Joe Stalin, his ideas and all he stands for.

Plane For Tech?
Montford wants a plane. Boo hoo. What else are we going to have to get this man to appease his ego? He has to look good for the rest of the Big 12 Conference. How about looking intelligent for the Big 12? He wanted a new sports arena. He got it. Is it paid for? No. He wanted a new house. He got it. Paid for? Paid to move him, too. He wanted his offices redone. Got it. Paid for? He wants the football stadium redone. He got it. Finished? Paid for?

Handicap Parking
Just a short comment to the letter to the editor "Improve Handicap Zone" (A-J, 9-13). The letter writer said "I'm sure that most, if not all, of our citizens would not intentionally park in a handicap zone." I've lived in Lubbock for 25 years and I've fought for just about every handicap parking space I get ... and let me tell you, I lose much of the time to our citizens!

Mr. Victim
He remembers waking up and seeing his girlfriend standing over him with a knife. He remembers the pain of each blow she inflicted during their fights. He remembers the harm when she lashed out at him verbally.

Volunteers line up for prep session before Lubbock kids head to polls
Volunteers from across the South Plains are scheduled to begin training today to help with the Kids Voting Lubbock County project this month and in early November.
''We've got about 500 volunteers right now,'' Kids Voting Lubbock County executive director Teri Holmes said. She indicated more will likely be needed to staff polling places for early voting Oct. 23 to Nov. 3 and on election day Nov. 7.

Moses gets green light from DISD
DALLAS -Dallas school trustees voted unanimously Monday to name Texas Tech Deputy Chancellor Mike Moses as the lone finalist for the sometimes stormy job of superintendent over the Dallas Indepen-dent School District.
Under state law, Moses must wait 21 days before he can accept the top job at the nation's 10th largest school district. But he said Monday that he is confident that a satisfactory contract and salary will be negotiated.

Online dating is a hit
A completely new method of social interaction has arisen with the evolution of Internet technology - online dating.
Lubbock is no exception to the online love revolution. An Internet search engine found 358 documents that included references to online dating in Lubbock. There were at least two online dating services dedicated to Lubbock-based communities, which provided chats and the placing of online personal ads.

Center offers hope to children with HIV
MEMPHIS, Tenn. {AP} Toys litter the playroom at Hope House, books such as "Jiggle, Wiggle, Prance" fill the shelves. Outside, children climb the jungle gym and push each other on the swings.
The sights and sounds are typical of any day-care center, but not so the clientele. Hope House is one of a handful of centers in the nation dedicated to children who live with AIDS or whose parents struggle with the deadly virus.

Huge aging survey to study seniors and health care
Researchers at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center want to know what the senior citizens of West Texas think about health care.
To find out, they will conduct one of the biggest surveys in the United States that targets the elderly -- part of a $1.8 million federal grant from the U.S. Administration on Aging.

Texas population change will burden public healthcare system
If state demographer Steven Murdock is right, Texas' healthcare system is facing huge problems due to rapid population growth, an increased elderly population and a change in the predominant racial population.
By the year 2008, the state's largest population will be Hispanic, African-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Murdock said Monday.

Clinton reflects on eight years in Oval Office
WASHINGTON {AP} Reflecting on nearly eight years in office, President Clinton says his tenure began with grand ideas, such as health care reform, that fell victim to political naivete. It will end with a graceful step to the sidelines in January, he says.

Officials round up paroled sex offenders
DENVER {AP} Eight of nine sex offenders who were turned loose in the weeks between a state Supreme Court ruling on parole guidelines and the court's agreement to reconsider were taken back into custody on Sunday.

Hettie Yarbrough
AMHERST Services for Hettie Lee Yarbrough, 92, of Amherst will be at 4 p.m. today at First Baptist Church in Amherst with Scot Yarbrough, a campus minister at San Angelo State University, officiating and the Rev. Mike Butts assisting.

Mae Abshier
BROWNFIELD Services for Mae Salinas Abshier, 51, of Littlefield, formerly of Lubbock, were Monday at Head Family Funeral Home Chapel in Brownfield.

Floy Sides
Services for Floy Glenn Sides, 82, of Lubbock will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Lubbockview Christian Church with the Rev. Ernest Williams officiating.

Leon Wofford
LOCKNEY Graveside services for Leon Wofford, 89, of Lockney, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Lockney Cemetery with Russell Harris, pastor of Main Street Church of Christ, officiating and Bill Sherman assisting.

Alma Wiggins
LAMESA Services for Alma Wiggins, 83, of Lamesa will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Second Baptist Church with the Rev. Clifton Igo officiating.

Mary Morrison
HEREFORD Graveside services for Mary Morrison, 91, of Hereford will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in West Park Cemetery with the Rev. Travis Curry officiating.

Howard Roberts
LOVINGTON, N.M. Services for Howard Doyle Roberts, 68, of Lovington, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Hillcrest Baptist Church with the Rev. K.M. McCarthick officiating.

Evelyn Kelly
SYLVESTER Services for Evelyn Lorene Kelly, 81, will be at 10 a.m. today at Sylvester Baptist Church with the Revs. Bruce Hess and Steve Long officiating.

Billy Roberts
ANDREWS Service for Billy G. Roberts, 63, of Andrews, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in McNett Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Eddie Marcum, pastor of Means Memorial United Methodist Church, officiating.

Pam Berryhill
Services for Pam Berryhill, 45, of Lubbock will be 2 p.m. Wednesday in Resthaven's Abbey Chapel with the Rev. Danny Trussell of Skellyville officiating.

Josefina Reyes
Services for Josefina Reyes, 78, of Lubbock will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Harvest Tabernacle Church with Jesus Garza officiating.

Brendin Acevedo
LITTLEFIELD Rosary for Brendin Acevedo, 2-month-old infant son of Salvador Acevedo and Michelle Cristan of Littlefield, will be recited at 7 p.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Littlefield.

Johnny Pitcox
SEMINOLE Graveside services for Johnny Lee Pitcox, 57, of Huntsville, formerly of Seminole, were Monday at the Gaines County Cemetery South with Darrell Patton of Mineral Wells officiating.

Lucious Hubert
ANDREWS Services for Lucious Hubert Sr., 81, of Andrews will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Calvary Baptist Church in Andrews with the Revs. Jimmy Braswell and Mike Henson officiating.

Malcolm Cowart
Services for Malcolm Dayton Cowart, 77, of Lubbock, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Resthaven's Abbey Chapel.

Malcolm Cowart
Services for Malcolm Dayton Cowart, 77, of Lubbock will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Resthaven's Abbey Chapel.

Daniel Caballero
SLATON A wake for Daniel B. Caballero, 84, of Slaton, will be at 7 p.m. today at Guajardo Funeral Chapels in Lubbock.

Morning blotter
Assault
At about 2 a.m. Sunday, a 17-year-old was assaulted by his older brother on the 1600 block of 55 St. The brother, a 20-year-old, had allowed the younger brother to have a party while their parents were out of town and furnished alcohol to them. They had been drinking for awhile when the two brothers had gotten into a fight over a video game. The violence escalated as the older brother punched the boy in the back and kidney area.

Morning blotter
Robbery
At about 2:30 a.m. Monday, police arrived on the 700 block of 34th St. and found paramedics checking a 28-year-old man's injuries. The man's nose was bleeding. He had been driving his vehicle, a gray, four-door 1988 Chrysler, when he was assaulted by two men from another car. He was trying to turn into a club parking lot when he honked at another car. The occupants, two unidentified men, stopped their car in front of the man and got out. They approached his window and began punching him in the face while he sat in the car. The men reached into the car and took his keys from the ignition. Then, the men proceeded to get in their car and drive away. Police are investigating.

Fittingly, Bonds makes last out
NEW YORK {AP} Barry Bonds made the final out of the season Sunday for the San Francisco Giants, hitting a fly ball to center field to cap an 0-for-4 afternoon.

Yankees snag early lead, trip to ALCS
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The New York Yankees, tired of being eulogized as fallen champions, broke out of their offensive malaise for a half-inning and then barely held on for a series-clinching win over the sleepy Oakland Athletics.

Husted's late field goal lifts Redskins over Eagles
PHILADELPHIA Michael Husted's job is safe at least for the trip back to Washington.
Husted's 24-yard field goal with four seconds left lifted the Redskins to a 17-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Moss makes Monday memorable for Vikes
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Monday night is Randy Moss time.
The Minnesota Vikings wide receiver, who had his first big game as a pro on a Monday night two years ago, caught a 41-yard TD pass midway through the fourth quarter to give the Vikings a 30-23 victory over Tampa Bay.

Breeders' lawsuit alleges AQHA rule violates antitrust statutes
AMARILLO {AP} A horse is a horse unless, of course, it wants to be registered with the American Quarter Horse Association.
Only one foal per mare can be registered each year, according to an AQHA rule that has miffed a handful of quarter horse breeders and has been impacted by a reproductive procedure called embryo transfer. The breeders are taking the matter to court, where an Amarillo judge is scheduled to consider arguments from both sides on Monday.

Global warming now religious issue
ALBUQUERQUE {AP} New Mexico religious leaders say global warming is an urgent issue and are promising to combat the problem by carrying a strong message back to their congregations.
"Global warming is real, it will harm God's creation and we must address the issues around it as a matter of religious faith and moral obligation," a statement signed by the religious leaders said.

HIV cat study angers animal rights activists
COLUMBUS, Ohio {AP} A researcher's plan to infect 120 cats with the feline version of HIV and then inject them with methamphetamine to study the effects has outraged animal rights activists and is raising questions about the need for the federally funded study.

Internet to link San Isidro schools to world
McALLEN {AP} A rural South Texas school district has come up with a way to give its high school students the education that students at larger, more metropolitan schools receive bring it to them using the Internet.

Georgia surge destroys traditional hedges
ATHENS, Ga. {AP} When Georgia fans mobbed the field to celebrate a memorable victory over Tennessee, they also damaged one of college football's most hallowed traditions.

Tech addresses penalty issues
On the eve of the Big Red challenge Saturday night against top-ranked undefeated Nebraska, Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach is trying to give his team a class in Rules 101.

Texas on mend after blowout
AUSTIN (AP) - The smile briefly returned to Mack Brown's face on Monday. It was a quick grin that wore off quickly when he had to answer more questions about the 63-14 loss to Oklahoma.

Tech football notebook - October 9, 2000
Milam gives up redshirt
Freshman defensive tackle Jeremy Milam from Frenship saw his first game action of the season late in Texas Tech's 28-0 victory Saturday against Baylor.

Nebraska's strategy had unforeseen result
For the Nebraska Cornhuskers, it was a case of be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. The Cornhuskers on Saturday didn't want Iowa State running back Ennis Haywood to come anywhere close to the 241 yards he gained the week before, and he didn't with only 27 yards on 11 carries.

Tech football notebook - October 10, 2000
Several tickets leftTexas Tech has sold about 42,000 tickets for Saturday's 6 p.m. game against No. 1 Nebraska. There are about 4,500 seats left for the game, not including 3,000 seats on the grass.

Rare ice storm strikes Alpine area
ALPINE {AP} A mass of cold air from Canada slid down the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and landed in West Texas, causing road closures, killing trees and knocking out power to thousands on Monday.

New trials don't come easy in Texas appellate court
FORT WORTH {AP} Despite a ruling six years ago that Texas inmates could seek new trials when new evidence supporting their innocence surfaced, the state's highest criminal court has been unlikely to grant the relief.
According to a review by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the nine-member Court of Criminal Appeals has only granted new trials in two of 33 such appeals filed by lawyers.

International community pushes talks while Barak, Arafat stick to their guns
JERUSALEM (AP) - World leaders scrambled Monday to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to keep the peace process alive, but each man held fast to his imperative: the other side needs to stop firing first.
The region was largely quiet as night fell, with the sporadic clashes that erupted this weekend having died down. In the centers of power, though, diplomatic brinkmanship continued: Barak convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to assess whether Arafat had met his ultimatum to cease attacks by Monday night, and Israeli commanders said they were ready to strike if not.

More changes in Yugoslavia
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Yugoslavia's new president pushed aside bastions of Slobodan Milosevic's power base Monday, as the country's federal prime minister and Serbia's interior minister resigned and a tentative date was set for new elections in the dominant republic.

Pot policy has British Conservatives in a huff
LONDON {AP} Britain's opposition Conservative Party has suddenly split between advocates of a tough new policy against marijuana and senior party figures who admit they smoked it in their youth.

Kostunica drives out key Milosevic allies
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia {AP} Key remnants of Slobodan Milosevic's regime crumbled Monday after Yugoslavia's prime minister and the country's most powerful police chief resigned. Early elections were set for the Serbian parliament, a last bastion of the old order.

Medicine opens Noble prize week
STOCKHOLM, Sweden {AP} A person deemed to have made the most significant discovery in medicine will become a Nobel laureate on Monday, kicking off a week of prize announcements culminating with the prestigious peace award.

U.S.-born man shot to death in West Bank
JERUSALEM {AP} An American-born rabbi was found shot to death in a cave in the West Bank and U.S. Jewish leaders called on President Bill Clinton to hold the Palestinian leader responsible for the murder.

Mideast rivals holding ground over ultimatum
JERUSALEM (AP) Israel on Sunday pressed its ultimatum to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat: order an end to the violence within a day or the peace talks are over and what's more, Palestinian commanders could become targets.
Israelis settled down to fast through Yom Kippur wondering whether their Day of Atonement, which ends at sundown today, would carry echoes of the same terrifying day 27 years ago when a surprise Arab attack launched a Mideast war. The United States stepped up its efforts to get the sides talking again.